Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), Spanish Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional,
guerrilla group in Mexico, founded in the late 20th century and named for the early 20th-century peasant revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. On Jan. 1, 1994, the Zapatistas staged a rebellion from their base in Chiapas, the southernmost Mexican state, to protest economic policies that they believed would negatively affect Mexico’s indigenous population. The insurgency later developed into a forceful political movement that advocated for Mexico’s disenfranchised Indians.

Background

The early history of the Zapatista movement is obscure. Although members claimed that the group had been founded as early as 1983, it did ... (100 of 892 words)